Being Filled with God's Spirit

The Birth of the Church

There are volumes of books written on what makes a thriving church. Here are two illustrations I ran across recently about what a church is: "Too many clergymen have become keepers of an aquarium instead of fishers of men – and often they are just swiping each other’s fish." And Henry Ward Beecher once wrote, "The church is not a gallery for the exhibition of eminent Christians, but a school for the education of imperfect ones."

To find out how to be an effective church, it seems to me the best guide is how Christ started his church as recorded in the first few chapters of the book of Acts. I think there are some important lessons for us to learn, not only on how to be an effective church, but also how to be an effective Christian.

The church was begun on the day of Pentecost. Today we celebrate the birth of the church on this Pentecost Sunday. As we celebrate the birth of the early church, let us also celebrate the re-birth of our own church. Two thousand years separate these two Pentecost Days. Let’s look at the original one, and maybe we can learn from it how to celebrate this one.

Acts 1:4-5

And while staying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit."

Jesus instructed his disciples that they must wait. Perhaps they wanted to return to Galilee or to their families. Maybe they wanted to start telling others that Christ was risen. But Jesus said to wait. Too often we want to get ahead of ourselves. We are so anxious to see results that we want to begin new programs and projects. We wish to run here and go there. But God wants us to wait on him. Christ wanted his disciples to wait for a specific reason. Notice in verse 5 he says "before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit." He knew they needed the strength of the Holy Spirit before they could begin the important work of the church. Things have not changed for us today. More than anything else, I believe, it is essential that the church spends time waiting on God, being filled with his Spirit, receiving strength, and being prepared for its mission in our communities, in our nation, and in the world.

Ferris comments, "There are times when the hardest thing in the world is to do nothing, yet there are times when that is the only thing to do. There are some things we can work for; there are other things we can only wait for. ... We have become experts in activity and are only novices in passivity. Yet in religion there is a primary place for passivity. It is the mood in which the soul is receptive to power from outside, responsive to intimations from above. A man who waits upon God is like a man waiting for the sun, expectant, ready to obey his bidding."

Acts 1:6-8

So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth."

There was a reason why Christ wanted them to wait. They were going to be empowered to be witnesses for him. Remember, these disciples had fled at the first sign of danger. They had forsaken Jesus when he was led to be crucified. They had been in hiding, afraid to show their faces. Peter had denied Christ three times. They had been slow to believe the women’s story that Christ had risen. Thomas had even doubted the accounts of the other ten disciples. Jesus was going to send them out to spread the new message of salvation, but they needed to be empowered first. So do we. Christ wants us to go out, but he wants to fill us first.

Notice that verse 8 says they would be witnesses first in Jerusalem, then in Judea, then Samaria, and finally to the end of the earth. These are ever widening circles of missions outreach around Jerusalem. Considering the small geographic size of Israel, we might say today that Christ is sending us to witness first in Merced, then in Merced County, then in California, and finally to our nation and the world. But before we can be effective witnesses for him, we must receive the strength of God’s Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:14

All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

In order to seek God, the early church began to pray. If we want to see God to do things here in our church and in our city, we are going to have to spend time in prayer. We must gather together in communion with our God. Yes, we do pray on Sunday mornings together. And we pray in our Sunday School classes and in our weekly Bible studies. These are all good and necessary. Let us also be praying throughout the week for our church, for our family, for our city, and for those who need to make a commitment to Christ. Prayer changes things. I do believe that much of what we have seen happen in our church in the past year was the result of all of you praying faithfully for the church every day for so long. Even when I called others who had left the church years ago, many of them still said they were praying for First Christian Church. And I know that there are still many here who pray faithfully for each other, for our church, for my ministry and for my family, and for those other needs in our church body. Prayer makes a big difference. Prayer changes things.

The Interpreter’s Bible points out, "For a great many people religion is an occasional thing, something to enjoy on great festivals, something to rely on in time of danger. But real religion is more than an emergency measure. It is continual. It sets the pattern of man’s daily thought and practice. Like regular meals, it silently stocks the storehouses of his spirit with power."

Acts 2:1

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.

Pentecost was 50 days after Passover. It was a time of celebration. It commemorated the first harvest of the year, and it was a time that Jews brought their first fruits as offerings. How appropriate that God would use this harvest celebration as a time to begin the world harvest of souls as he began the work of his church. The reason for the 50 day period was that it was 50 days after the children of Israel left Egypt that God gave Moses the ten commandments and the law establishing the covenant with the nation of Israel. And so it was on the Day of Pentecost 50 days after Christ had become the Passover Lamb that God filled his people with his Spirit establishing the new covenant of the church age.

On this day so long ago that early church was all gathered together waiting on God. We are all gathered together this day on this Pentecost Sunday. Let us allow God to fill us so that we can begin the work he wants us to do in Merced, and in Merced County, in California, and to the ends of the earth.

Ferris remarks, "Christians are people who are drawn together by a common devotion. They were all with one accord in one place. They were a group of people who probably had nothing else in common save this one thing: they loved Jesus. They were all there, their differences overcome, for the simple reason that they adored him. Christians have been drawn together for the same reason ever since. Even now! Congregations are drawn together every Sunday, in spite of their differences, because men and women remember Jesus. There is something about the everlasting Christ that draws men together."

Acts 2:2-4

And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

They were all gathered together. They had all been praying. They were waiting for God’s promise. And suddenly a great sound filled the whole house. They were in God’s presence and everyone was filled with the Holy Spirit. No one was left out. We are gathered in God’s presence this morning. Let us allow his Holy Spirit to fill us. Do you realize that in the book of Acts, after this event it is mentioned another 9 times that people were filled with the Spirit or the believers were filled anew. We can never get enough of God. He wants to fill us to overflowing. And he wants to continue to renew us.

When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, life’s distractions fade in the background. God is in the center of our thoughts. All those pains and hurts and despair are replaced with love and joy and comfort. It is never God’s will for us to leave a church service beaten down, discouraged, and suffering. He wants to fill us to overflowing so we can rejoice in our spirit.

Acts 2:14

But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, "Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.

What had happened to Peter? As The Believer’s Bible Commentary notes, "The disciple who had denied his Lord with oaths and curses now steps forward to address the throng. No longer the timid and vacillating follower, he has become lion-like and forceful. Pentecost has made the difference. Peter is now filled with the Spirit."

God loves you as much as he did Peter and the other followers in that early church. These people were changed by their encounter with God. We can be too.

Acts 2:41-42

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

Here we see the results of the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Three thousand people gave their heart to God. And not only that, but we can see their lives were also changed because they joined with the disciples. Verse 42 says they devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles’ doctrine – in other words they started getting into studying the Bible and learning about Christ. They were involved in fellowship. They did not neglect their church attendance. They were strengthened by each other. They broke bread together. They gathered around the communion table declaring their unity in Christ and with Christ. And they devoted themselves to prayers. When people are willing to spend time in prayer, you know there has been a change in their life.

MacDonald wrote, "The proof of reality is in continuance. These converts proved the reality of their profession by continuing steadfastly...."

Acts 4:13

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they wondered; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

I want to close with this verse because it shows the difference that being filled with the Holy Spirit meant to these first Christians. Notice that the religious leaders recognized that these men were uneducated, and they were common. But there was something different about them. They had a boldness to share their faith, and they were not afraid to take a stand. The religious leaders recognized that they had seen this before. They recognized that these men had been with Jesus.

The Interpreter’s Bible explains, "They were men of no extraordinary powers, little education, and no prestige. Yet they were bold to speak, and as they spoke it became clear that their power came from Jesus."

When people see us, do they recognize that we have been with Jesus? Do they sense his love and his compassion in our lives? Do they sense a confidence and a boldness that defies our abilities, our talents, and our education? When we allow God to fill us with his Spirit, we will discover a new joy in our life.

Just as the early church waited on God to be filled with his Spirit so that they could be the first Christians to witness the good news of Christ to others, let us also allow God to fill us with his Spirit so that we can be the First Christian Church to witness the good news of Christ to those in our family and in our community. God wants to fill you this morning. And he will, if you let him.

Footnotes:

Illustrations about the church from Christian Clippings, May 1998

The other references to being filled or receiving the Holy Spirit are Acts 4:8, 4:31, 8:17, 9:17, 10:44-47, 11:15, 13:9, 13:52, 19:1-6



	A Study of Acts 1 and 2 (selections)